RACHEL: He is a true German shepherd, just shortened.
COMM: 4-year-old German shepherd Quasimodo
is believed to be one of just 15 dogs worldwide living with short spine syndrome.
COMM: And his unusual looks have made him
a social media star.
RACHEL: It’s crazy how viral it went. I
mean we had no idea. I teased it on our Facebook page a few weeks ago, and it got a nice amount
of likes but nothing like out of control, and then as soon as we made a Facebook page
for him, which is ‘Quasi The Great’; he stoles everybody’s hearts, you know. So
I have been working really hard at making sure that we are posting about him and really
showing his personality, showcasing who he is because to be honest he represents a much
bigger group. Quasi was actually found running as a stray in Kentucky and they couldn’t
catch him, it actually took them 5 days to catch him and they had to use a live trap.
Quasi was really fearful and scared of people at first. The first day I met him he was so
scared and shy and I thought, “I wonder if this dog really does enjoy life,” and
as soon as I got him home I realised how much he does enjoy life. He is goofy, he is playful,
he loves girl dogs, he thinks he is Casanova, not Quasimodo. I think anybody that sees him
kind of falls in love with him.
COMM: Quasimodo is now being cared for at
Second Hand Hounds in Minnesota.
RACHEL: Second Hand Hounds was founded in
2009. I was fully pregnant with my daughter and I always joked that hormones made me do
it. We save thousands of animals a year. We are almost at 10,000 since 2009.
SARA: Quasi has what’s called short spine
syndrome. Basically what that means is that the vertebra in his back are compressed and
he is actually missing a couple of them. Right now we are not really sure what he will need
in the future. We are having him see our specialist again to kind of make sure that nothing else
needs to be done. Right now he is just on pain meds. He is doing great, he is mobile.
RACHEL: He loves to nibble, he is very mouthy.
He loves to herd, if he sees something running he wants to chase.
COMM: Quasi does have to do some things differently
because of his condition.
RACHEL: Because of his neck, it’s really
hard for him to bend down to eat his food, so elevated food bowls or me holding it like
this is typically what we do.
COMM: The team have sent a vial of Quasi’s
blood to geneticists at the University of California to help discover what causes his
rare condition. And while they have already received 1,200 applications to re-home him,
Rachel and her family are in no rush to part with their unusual dog.
RACHEL: He is a sweet dog. It’s going to
be hard to let him go. Right now we are just trying to find out more about his personality
so we can make a perfect match for him. But I urge everybody that has been inquiring about
him to go to their local shelter and find a dog that’s a great match for them because
Quasimodo is one of millions in the shelters in the US and worldwide who need a home.